A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to shower heads, and, more particularly to a shower head having a rubber/plastic face plate that provides improved shower spray, and a diverter valve using rubber sleeve back-pressure activation.
B. Description of the Related Art
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional shower head comprises a hollow body or shell 10 connected at its upper end to a source of water. Water discharges into a central body portion 12 of the shower head. A face plate 14 fits across the open bell end of body portion 10 and is held in watertight engagement therewith by means of an O-ring 16. Face plate 14 is held in position by means of a screw bolt 18 that is received in and held by a lower threaded portion of a sleeve 20. A tubular element 22 has a spider 24 integrally formed on a lower end thereof, and mounts around the outer circumference of sleeve 20. Spider 24 has a plurality of open slots formed therein. Directly below each slot is a corresponding opening 26 formed in face plate 14. Plungers 28 are engaged within in slots in spider 24, and protrude through openings 26 in face plate 14. Tubular element 22 is adjustable on sleeve 20 by means of a shaft 30 having an eccentric pin 32 on an end thereof. Pin 32 is received in and holds tubular element 22 and spider 24 together in a spaced relationship to face plate 14. A handle 34 connects to and rotates shaft 30, adjusting the relationship between face plate 14 and spider 24 and modifying the spray from the shower head.
As shown in FIG. 2, each plunger 28 comprises a body portion 36 having a plurality of grooves 38 in its sides and a shaft portion 40. Plungers 28 are provided in openings 26 of face plate 14. Shaft portion 40 attaches to spider 24 so that the location of plungers 28 may be adjusted with respect to openings 26 in face plate 14. Conventional face plates are made from brass, solid plastic, or solid plastic having a decorative face. Attaining a desirable spray pattern for the shower head requires a close fit between the periphery of plungers 28 and openings 26 in face plate 14. Thus, conventional face plate openings 26 need to be machined to precise dimensions, or, if plastic, molded to very close tolerances. Unfortunately, such machining is costly, time consuming, and inaccurate. Even precision molding is not always accurate enough, and is usually expensive.
One proposed solution to this problem is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,783 to Halsted et al. which discloses a shower head having an O-ring 73 located about the openings in the face plate, as shown in FIG. 1A. Spray nozzles 22, 23, however, have triangular grooves 31 formed along their entire lengths. Thus, O-ring 73 prevents leakage of water past spray nozzles 22, 23, except through triangular grooves 31. The shower head of Halsted et al., however, fails to provide a desirable spray pattern since the O-ring 73 does not provide a close, uniform fit between the periphery of spray nozzles 22, 23 and the face plate opening.
Some conventional shower heads incorporate a pulsating outlet and a diverter valve for activating the pulsating outlet. For example, the shower head of Halsted et al. comprises three spray exit openings, two for normal spray patterns and a third for pulsating spray patterns. Incoming pressurized water is fed into a diverter which includes a slide valve that adjustably proportions the flow of water into two flow paths. The first flow path from the slide valve terminates in the two normal spray exit openings, while water flowing along the second flow path drives a turbine and exits via openings in the pulsating outlet. The rotating turbine includes a mask which sequentially covers and uncovers the spray outlet to provide a pulsating outlet. A problem with conventional pulsating shower heads, such as the one shown in Halsted et al., is that the pulsating outlet and diverter valve require mechanically complex designs which are difficult to manufacture and maintain.
An object of the invention is to provide a shower head having an improved shower spray pattern and which overcomes the problems of related art shower heads.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a shower head face plate that provides a tight, uniform fit around the periphery of the plungers and overcomes the disadvantages of the related art.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a shower head face plate that is easy and inexpensive to manufacture and maintain, while maintaining very tight dimensional tolerances.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a diverter mechanism for a shower head that is simple in design, and easy and inexpensive to manufacture and maintain.
Another object of the present invention includes eliminating the need for an O-ring seal between a shower head housing and face plate.
Still another object of the present invention is to improve and simplify the assembly of the face plate into the shower head.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
To achieve the objects and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention comprises a shower head having: a hollow body connected at one end to a water source; a face plate connected at the other end of the hollow body, the face plate including a plastic substrate having a plurality of openings formed therein and a thermoplastic rubber layer formed on portions of the plastic substrate, including walls of plastic substrate openings, wherein the thermoplastic rubber layer includes ridge portions extending away from and circumferentially around the plastic substrate openings; and a plurality of plungers, wherein each plastic substrate opening receives a corresponding plunger and the ridge portions closely surrounding the plungers to form a close fit between the plungers and plastic substrate openings.
To further achieve the objects, the present invention comprises a diverter valve for a shower head having a hollow body with a face plate at one end thereof, a water source at the other end thereof, and plurality of plungers connected to a spider, the face plate having a plurality of circumferential openings provided therein and a central opening provided therein, wherein each face plate circumferential opening receives a corresponding plunger, the diverter valve comprising: a cylindrical insert communicating with the cental opening of the face plate, the cylindrical insert having a plurality of openings formed therein and connecting to the spider; and a deformable member arranged on the inside of the cylindrical insert and covering the plurality of openings formed in the insert, wherein when water flowing through plungers is stopped, the water pressure against the deformable member increases and forces the sleeve away from the cylindrical insert openings, allowing water to flow through the central opening of the face plate.
To still further achieve the objects, the present invention comprises a plunger for a shower head having a hollow body with a face plate at one end thereof with an opening therein, a water source at the other end thereof, the plunger being variably positioned in the face plate opening and comprising: a generally cylindrical shaft portion having an upper end, means for attaching the shaft portion to a means for adjusting the plunger within the opening, and a lower end having a collar thereon whose diameter corresponds to that of the upper end; and a body portion having a plurality of semicircular grooves provided therein to permit water to pass through the opening in a controlled spray pattern, the plurality of semicircular grooves extending partially along the length of the body portion, the body portion further having a plurality of slots provided therein, each slot extending from a corresponding semicircular groove to a bottom of the body portion, wherein the slots permit water to pass through the opening in a needle-like spray pattern.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.